And, fortunately for the football program, it’s not another Bayou Bengal as had been rumored.
Multiple media outlets are reporting that 20-year-old Robert Bayardo was arrested earlier Friday on a charge of felony second-degree battery. A cell phone video of the bar brawl last week appeared to show Bayardo knocking the alleged victim unconscious with a punch shortly after LSU running back Jeremy Hill was also seen on the clip punching the man.
Hill, whose attorney claimed the incident that was caught on tape was preceded by the alleged victim heckling his client about his past legal issues, was charged with simple battery, a misdemeanor.
According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, no formal charges have been filed against either individual. A district attorney told the paper that it would be at least several weeks before that step is taken.
“We’ll have to wait and get the reports and make a decision on what the appropriate charges are, like any other case,” East Baton Rouge Parish DA Hillar Moore told the Times-Picayune. “It will be several weeks, probably longer. it takes a while to get the file and all of the records and all of the reports, video and statements.”
LSU’s leading rusher last season, Hill was indefinitely suspended shortly after his arrest. In January of 2012, Hill received two years probation and a suspended six-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to misdemeanor carnal knowledge of a juvenile. He had originally been charged with felony oral sexual battery of a 14-year-old girl following an incident in a high school locker room.
The Times-Picayune writes that “Hill could have his suspension revoked and will likely be called back before District Judge Bonnie Jackson for a review of his probation.” One of the stipulations of his probation is that he refrains from criminal conduct during those two years.
Suffice to say, Hill’s availability for the 2013 season — and his freedom for a six-month stretch — is very much up in the air.
